St. Louis de Montfort says we should “do all our actions by Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary; so that we may do them all the more perfectly by Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus” (“True Devotion to Mary”, #257).

Fair enough. Can’t disagree with that.

Yet, while he explains how to do all our actions by, with, and for Mary, he says almost nothing about how to do your actions ‘in Mary.’ See for yourself in #s 261-264 of his “True Devotion to Mary”, where he briefly talks about living ‘in Mary.’ And living ‘in Mary’ is the most important part!

This free ebook, “Life in and for Mary”, fills in this gap. It was written by Ven. Michael of St. Augustine.

What’s interesting is St. Louis says he “read nearly all the books which profess to treat of devotion to Our Lady” (#118). Yet, there’s no evidence he ever read this, although it was available during his lifetime.

It’s also important to remember what Montfort Fr. Armand Plessis says in the Introduction of his “Commentary on the Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”:

“Now, the “Treatise on the True Devotion” condenses in one small volume a considerable sum of dogmatic truths and spiritual counsels. Several times, the author (St. Louis) shows his intention of only saying things briefly, and he avoids lingering over proofs. Benedict XV himself notes this character: “If the book is of great authority and great unction, it is also “little by volume”.

“Doctrinal density, included in a brief text! The same conciseness naturally calls for explanations. Otherwise many readers will be confused, and will declare themselves incapable of enjoying the Montfortian spirituality.”

St. Louis wrote the “True Devotion to Mary” on the fly. In one sitting, in fact.

So you can see how important it is to have help in understanding it.

And St. Louis de Montfort even admits he left a lot out…

“I have now said many things about the most holy Virgin; but I have many more to say, and thereareinfinitelymorewhichIshallomit, whether from ignorance, inability, or want of time, in the design which I have to form a true client of Mary, and a true disciple of Jesus Christ” (#111).

So, today you can get started reading “Life in and for Mary” in minutes. It’s only sixteen pages, but it’s packed.

Today is the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Here is an image from the church of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome where he was ordained priest.

And here’s an image from the Roman church Sant’Andrea della Fratte where he offered his first Mass on the altar where Our Lady appeared to and converted Alphonse Ratisbonne.

St. Maximilian gave some excellent advice in reading about Our Lady: “When you start reading something on the Immaculate, do not forget that at that moment you come into contact with a living being, who loves you, who is pure, without stain. She will reveal herself to you through the phrases that you read and will convey to you thoughts, convictions, feelings that the author himself could not possibly even imagine.”

“We should put into practice what we have read. It is sufficient to dedicate five minutes daily to the reading, but be resolute, and do not omit these five minutes any day. This will be an assurance of advancement in perfection. It will likewise be a healthful nourishment for our souls, because it will serve to give us wings in our flight to the summits of our desired holiness, and a closer union with the Immaculata.”

They include the book pictured above. St .Lawrence of Brindisi is known as the Marian Doctor of the Church. This book is several hundred pages of his Marian writings. Most people don’t know about him or even that his works have been translated and published. You can find it and other Marian and spiritual books by clicking here to see the Marian Resources page.

a). – Mary is first and foremost the Mother of God the Son. This already supposes the greatest intimacy, especially at the time of gestation and childhood. “During the months which separate the Annunciation from the Nativity, Jesus lives literally from the life of His Mother. The blood which flows in His veins, which makes His heart beat, which brings the increase to His little members, this blood has completely passed through the heart of His Mother; this is the purest blood of the Immaculate Virgin. And after having nourished Jesus, it returns to the heart of Mary, where enriched by new nutritive juices, it returns to Jesus. Is there not, in this uninterrupted exchange, in this vital commerce of every instant between the Creator and one of His creatures, a mystery of divine condescension and a mystery no less astonishing of human elevation? Could God do more to honor a creature, and could a creature do more to serve her God?”

b.) – Mary is also justly called the Spouse of the Word. On the one hand, her exquisite holiness and fullness of grace give her right to this title which all holy souls bear as well. On the other hand, because of her virginity, she can, like all virgins consecrated to God, be called the spouse of Christ. To these two reasons, which apply to everyone, but are applied above all to Mary, it is appropriate to add two others to them, particular to this good mother. The Incarnation being like a spiritual marriage between the Word and human nature, represented by Mary, it is the Virgin herself who consented to this union on the day of the Incarnation. It is therefore she who is the spouse of the Word. Finally, Mary deserves this title still because of her association, as the new Eve, to Christ, the new Adam, in the whole work of reparation.

I’m translating an excellent book on dogmatic Mariology. From time to time, I’ll post sections from it. Here’s the first:

a). – Through sanctifying grace Mary is the Daughter of the Father, an adoptive daughter certainly, not a daughter according to nature. But this adoption is so full and so perfect that it closely imitates real filiation. For grace was granted to Mary at the same time as nature at the first moment of conception, and she didn’t need, like other men, to be regenerated. Much more, as grace was due to Christ in fullness, because of His hypostatic union, thus grace was due to Mary in the same way for her divine Maternity, assuming, however her free election to this Maternity. This is why the Fathers often praise her as the beloved daughter, the unique daughter, the only daughter of God. This filiation, however, is related to God the Father only by virtue of an appropriation. In reality, it is referred to the three divine Persons. This is what inspired this song of Dante Alighieri: “Virgin Mother, daughter of thy own son.”

b). – Mary is associated with the Father in the generation of the same Son. The two generations, the eternal and the temporal, end in the same person. In the two generations, the Son is begotten of the substance of the One who generates Him, of the substance of the Father according to the divinity, of the substance of the mother, according to the humanity.

And as the generation of the Word is eternal, it occurs at every moment. And so, at the same moment in which the Virgin conceived Christ in His humanity, the Father also begot Him in His divinity. The generation from the Father, however, does not end in the Son according to the human nature. And the conception of Mary does not end in the Son according to the divine nature. That’s why these two acts remain entirely distinct. The one is always present. The other is past and was very brief.

c). – Because of this same association of the Father and the Virgin in the generation of the same Son, Mary is also sometimes called the Spouse of the Father. This expression is understood very well. But it is a delicate maneuvering, and it is better to refrain from it.

Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Blessed Pope Pius IX, in defining this dogma, wrote: “From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so loved her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully” (Bull, Ineffabilis Deus).

Many will also make their consecration to Jesus through Mary today, according to the formula of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort. Most, however, despite their good intentions, will not make much progress. St. Louis-Marie said: “As the essential of this devotion consists in the interior which it ought to form, it will not be equally comprehended by everybody. Some will stop at what is exterior in it, and will go further, and these will be the greatest number. Some, in small number, will enter into its inward spirit; but they will mount only one step. Who will mount to the second step? Who will get as far as the third? Lastly, who will so advance as to make this devotion his habitual state?” (“True Devotion to Mary”, #119).

If you want to be in the small number who advances to the third step, here is your solution: To Jesus through Mary. This is the book which shows you what to do AFTER you’ve made your consecration. Check it out here.